Paredes Homers In 8th, Walk-Off Single In 9th
Tampa, FL – Isaac Paredes hit his team leading 10th homer in the eighth inning to cut the Pirates lead to 5-4 and then delivered a 2-RBI walk-off single in the ninth leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of 15,203 fans at Tropicana Field on Saturday afternoon.
Ralph Garza (1-2, 3.46 ERA) worked the final two innings in picking up the win and the Rays improve to 39-32 on the season. The 6-5 win marks the 11th straight game in which the game has been decided by 2-runs or less and the Rays are 4-7 in those games. It also marks their 29th one run game, the most such games in the majors, and they are 15-14 in those games. The victory also guarantees the Rays a series win breaking a steak of four consecutive series losses, their longest such streak since dropping five straight in August of 2017.
David Bendar (3-2, 1.78 ERA) takes the loss for Pittsburgh who fall to 29-42.
Cash’s Curious Decision:
The Rays held leads of 2-0 lead and a 3-2 but Pittsburgh tied the game in the third and took a lead in the sixth by capitalizing on a curious decision by Manager Kevin Cash to remove Corey Kluber from the game.
Kluber was sailing along through five solid innings of work and was in a groove. He needed just 9 pitches to get through the fifth and only three more in retiring Michael Chavis to lead off the sixth. Despite his effectiveness and low pitch count, Kevin Cash went to the mound and brought in lefty Jalen Beeks as the Pirates had a trio of lefties due up.
“I felt that with his recent workload, we’re looking for opportunities to pull back, he’s going to have an extra day now going into the Toronto series.” Kevin Cash said of the decision. “I like the matchup with Jalen [Beeks], I know it didn’t work that way, but with the string of lefties, Jalen thrown the ball really well for us this year.”
The move backfired as Beeks walked the first batter and a bit of misfortune followed as he allowed a soft single off the b-ring. Jake Suwinski made Cash and the Rays pay for the decision to remove Kluber by blasting a 3-run homer to put the Pirates in the lead for good.
Suwinski ‘s homer wound up being the game winner as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at Tropicana Field.
Jalen Beeks (1-2, 2.59 ERA) who allowed the homer takes the loss for Tampa Bay who fall to 38-33 on the year. It’s the 11th straight game the Rays have played with the outcome decided by 2-runs or less. They are 3-8 in those games. It also marks their 29th one run game, the most such games in the majors. They are just 14-15 in such games.
JT Brubaker (2-7, 4.14 ERA) picks up the win for the Pirates who have won 5 of their last 7 games and see their record improve to 30-41. David Bednar worked the ninth inning picking up his 12th save.
How It Happened:
Vidal Brujan, mired in a 1-for-13 skid, delivered a 2-RBI single in the first inning scoring Tahylor Walls and Randy Arozarena giving the Rays an early 2-0 lead.
Pittsburgh came back to tie the game in their half of the third inning on a Diego Castillo leadoff homer and a 2-out RBI single by Bryan Reynolds.
Tampa Bay regained the lead in the sixth inning when Randy Arozarena delivered an RBI double scoring Josh Lowe from second. Unfortunately, Arozarena was picked off ahead of a Ji-Man Choi single.
Jalen Beeks took over for Kluber with one out in the sixth inning and he immediately walked Daniel Vogelbach. Bilgh Madris hit the B-ring allowing his easy fly out to fall safely to the ground for a single. Jake Susinski followed with a 3-run homer to put Pittsburgh on to 5-3. It was Suwinki’s 12th homer, which leads all rookies.
Tampa Bay cut the lead to 5-4 in the eight inning when Isaac Paredes hit his 10th homer of the season. He hit the homer off Pirates reliever Chase DeJong.
David Bednar entered the game looking to secure the win for Pittsburgh and retired Josh Lowe and Randy Arozarena before the wheels fell off. He walked Ji-Man Choi and Vidal Brujan and allowed an infield single to pinch-hitter Jonathan Aranda to load the bases for Isaac Paredes who delivered an opposite field single scoring both Choi and Brujan giving the Rays a 6-5 victory.
For Starters:
Corey Kluber worked into the sixth inning allowing a pair of runs on five hits while striking out six and walking none. It was the 11th time in his 13 starts that he’s completed at least five innings. He departed after making 63 pitches with 47 for strikes.
JT Brubaker worked six innings allowing three earned runs on nine hits while striking out six and walking none. It was his second straight start finishing six innings. He made 94 pitches with 67 for strikes.
Up Next For Rays:
The Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates complete their three game weekend series on Sunday afternoon at 1:40. Shane McClanahan (7-3, 1.81 ERA) will take the mound for Tampa Bay and the Pirates counter with Roansy Contreras (2-1, 2.89 ERA).
